Update: 19.23 Gwendoline Christie on her finale encounter & Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on Jamie's loss.
Actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau—who notes he doesn’t have any idea what’s to come next season—speculated that Jaime is going to have a pretty tough time explaining this one to his beloved sister. “It’s not going to be easy, is it?” the actor mused. “She’s already gone through one hell. It’s like: ‘Do you want the good or the bad news first?’ But after this whole religious thing that’s happened [with the Faith Militant taking power in King’s Landing], the whole political balance has shifted. It’s not clear what’s going to happen.”
The actor also pointed out he’s returning to King’s Landing with Myrcella’s betrothed, Trystane Martell. Coster-Waldau noted that Trystane could find himself in the same situation as Myrcella in Dorne after Prince Oberyn was murdered—except Cersei is far less likely to show mercy than Prince Doran.
Source:
Entertainment Weekly What was your reaction when you saw this in the script?
Gwendoline Christie [Christie makes screeching sound that’s impossible to replicate by text] I didn’t think it could get any better than last season. And then I got to the end and I’m like, “What happens next? What could possibly happen?” This season I had a story line I genuinely could never have imagined.
Entertainment Weekly What was she thinking when she abandons her watch for Sansa?
Gwendoline Christie Brienne is depressed about the situation she’s in. She hasn’t been able to achieve what she’s wanted. Arya slipped through her fingers and she just went through the fight of her life. The notion of the oath comes up again and again and she remains resolute. A lot of her personal needs remain unacknowledged. She puts all of her life’s focus on the greater good. What occurs is something very interesting. There’s an exploration of this character as a person—she’s dedicated to the greater good, not acknowledging her personal wants and needs in favor of something better than her. [Going after Stannis is] the one moment she responds to her emotional world and her feelings. She’s overtaken by something that we haven’t seen before. She chooses not to stand vigilant and to go and seek Stannis. In the script it says, “a darkness comes over her,” in that way it does when you’re hell-bent on something.
Gwendoline Christie [Christie makes screeching sound that’s impossible to replicate by text] I didn’t think it could get any better than last season. And then I got to the end and I’m like, “What happens next? What could possibly happen?” This season I had a story line I genuinely could never have imagined.
Entertainment Weekly What was she thinking when she abandons her watch for Sansa?
Gwendoline Christie Brienne is depressed about the situation she’s in. She hasn’t been able to achieve what she’s wanted. Arya slipped through her fingers and she just went through the fight of her life. The notion of the oath comes up again and again and she remains resolute. A lot of her personal needs remain unacknowledged. She puts all of her life’s focus on the greater good. What occurs is something very interesting. There’s an exploration of this character as a person—she’s dedicated to the greater good, not acknowledging her personal wants and needs in favor of something better than her. [Going after Stannis is] the one moment she responds to her emotional world and her feelings. She’s overtaken by something that we haven’t seen before. She chooses not to stand vigilant and to go and seek Stannis. In the script it says, “a darkness comes over her,” in that way it does when you’re hell-bent on something.
Source:
Entertainment Weekly: What was your reaction when you learned Jon’s fate?
Kit Harington: Like every season, you read something in the script and go, “Oh f–k.” I kind of knew it was coming. I didn’t read [George R.R. Martin’s novel] A Dance with Dragons. But I read the other books and I had heard this is what happens. So I had an inkling it should be this season. I didn’t realize it would be the final shot of the season and that made it extra special. It’s always kind of nice really when you’re the last thing that happens in that episode. I dunno, I loved it. I loved how they brought Olly in to be the person who kills me. I love how the storyline with Thorne was wrapped up. I think it was really well crafted by [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss]. It felt like the right way for it to happen.
Entertainment Weekly:I was talking to Dan Weiss and he said Jon is really dead. But George R.R. Martin left open the possibility the character might not be dead in the books. And then that cast salary contract story came out last year and it had your name among those receiving raises for season six and an option on a seventh. So let me ask you: Is Jon really dead?
Kit Harington:This is my understanding of it. I had a sit-down with Dan and David, we did the Tony Soprano walk [letting an actor know they’re being whacked]. And they said, “Look, you’re gone, it’s done.” And as far as the salary thing goes, that angered me when that story came out. I don’t know where it came from, but it was inaccurate in many ways. It’s going to put questions into your head and into fans’ heads that things are not what they are. Quite honestly, I have never been told the future of things in this show, but this is the one time I have. They sat me down and said, “This is how it is.” If anything in the future is not like that, then I don’t know about it – it’s only in David and Dan and George’s heads. But I’ve been told I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m not coming back next season. So that’s all I can tell you, really.
Kit Harington: Like every season, you read something in the script and go, “Oh f–k.” I kind of knew it was coming. I didn’t read [George R.R. Martin’s novel] A Dance with Dragons. But I read the other books and I had heard this is what happens. So I had an inkling it should be this season. I didn’t realize it would be the final shot of the season and that made it extra special. It’s always kind of nice really when you’re the last thing that happens in that episode. I dunno, I loved it. I loved how they brought Olly in to be the person who kills me. I love how the storyline with Thorne was wrapped up. I think it was really well crafted by [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss]. It felt like the right way for it to happen.
Entertainment Weekly:I was talking to Dan Weiss and he said Jon is really dead. But George R.R. Martin left open the possibility the character might not be dead in the books. And then that cast salary contract story came out last year and it had your name among those receiving raises for season six and an option on a seventh. So let me ask you: Is Jon really dead?
Kit Harington:This is my understanding of it. I had a sit-down with Dan and David, we did the Tony Soprano walk [letting an actor know they’re being whacked]. And they said, “Look, you’re gone, it’s done.” And as far as the salary thing goes, that angered me when that story came out. I don’t know where it came from, but it was inaccurate in many ways. It’s going to put questions into your head and into fans’ heads that things are not what they are. Quite honestly, I have never been told the future of things in this show, but this is the one time I have. They sat me down and said, “This is how it is.” If anything in the future is not like that, then I don’t know about it – it’s only in David and Dan and George’s heads. But I’ve been told I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m not coming back next season. So that’s all I can tell you, really.
Source:
Streaming Options
